Israel: Nine lives lost after Iran missiles tear through Beit Shemesh neighbourhood

Confirming the attack, Israel Defense Forces wrote on X: "The Iranian Regime directly fired missiles toward the civilian neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, killing innocent civilians."

"The Iranian regime purposely targets civilian targets while we precisely target terror targets. This is who we’re operating against—a regime who uses civilian casualties as their war tactic," the force said.

The missile struck a residential area in the city, destroying a synagogue and causing extensive damage to a public bomb shelter and surrounding homes, The Times of Israel reported.

Israel's medical emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) confirmed the casualty figure in the incident.

"Additional MDA teams are treating and evacuating 28 casualties to hospital including: 2 in serious condition, 2 in moderate condition, and 24 in mild condition," MDA wrote on X.

Iran has launched retaliatory strikes in multiple Middle-East nations, including the UAE, following the Israel-US attacks in its territory on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Iran appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council, hours after officially announcing the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ali Khamenei was reportedly killed in a strike carried out by Israel and the United States on Saturday inside Iranian territory.